Ms Lynsey Kavanagh:

Both Ms McDonnell and Mr. Reilly were candid and clear about the impact of Covid-19 on children’s education, as well as their mental health. The population of the Traveller community is young. More than half of Travellers are under the age of 25. They live in overcrowded accommodations and they not have access, as Ms McDonnell said, to basic play sites or footpaths. On top of that, they had to live with lockdown after lockdown during Covid-19. It has had a huge impact on mental health. We, therefore, welcome the report of the Ombudsman for Children. Although it was shocking, we were not as shocked to read it as others. We have been hearing for years about the dire situations on sites. Although it was shocking, we welcome that this has been documented. We are now hoping for clear action. There were clear recommendations set out by the ombudsman. We hope that clear action happens and that the recommendations are implemented. As Ms Fay said earlier, we are great at developing policies. We have great consultative mechanisms but we tend to fail on implementation across the board. Given the level of health inequalities, the poor mental health and the fact that Travellers are dying at exponentially higher rates, action is needed now.